Student Showcase: Megan Walden

“We’re warned about identity theft, but how far can this go?” – Megan Walden

Photo: © Megan Walden 2013

Photo: © Megan Walden 2013

As promised, we have some brilliant new student work for you this week! Megan Walden is currently working on a series of self-portraits, in which she performs as a number of famous women, evoking both their look and personality, by mimicking iconic poses and facial expressions.

Photo: © Megan Walden 2013

In this series, Megan questions the solidity of identity, asking that if we can steal credit card details and passwords, can we not also “steal someone else’s ‘image’ and their representation of themselves?”

More broadly speaking, the work is a comment on our appetite for instantly recognisable celebrities and public figures. In these portraits, Megan reflects our desire for iconic images of iconic faces, exploring the nature of identity while also, of course, having a great time playing dress-up.

Photo: © Megan Walden 2013

Megan Walden is a second year Photography student at Southampton Solent University. To see more of her work, you can (and should!) visit her Flickr page.

Joe Rose

Student Showcase: Francesca Solloway

“Is this really a utopia, or just another nightmare?” – Francesca Solloway

Photo: © Francesca Solloway 2013

Hello everyone! Today we have some more excellent student work for you. Francesca Solloway is a second year Photography student at Southampton Solent University, and is currently working on a landscape-based project, centred on the conflict between seduction and repulsion, utopia and nightmare.

Photo: © Francesca Solloway 2013

Her images offer new perspectives on sceneries which we may pass every day. By photographing them at the “hour of twilight… the blue hour”, Francesca transforms these sites into stages for eerie and uncanny experiences and her work simultaneously challenges and emphasises the notions of beauty associated with nature. This is achieved by fusing the rich, almost luxurious blue light produced at this time of day, with the dark, slightly blurred, claw-like tree trunks and branches, which pierce the serenity of each image. This conflict questions our relationship to nature, as our own fears and desires are played out projected onto the landscape that surrounds us.

For more of Francesca's work, visit her Flickr, Facebook page, or Blog.

And finally, be sure to send us your own work. We want to feature as much of it as possible on the blog!

Joe Rose

Co-Editor

Student Showcase: Georgia Watson

Photo: © Georgia Watson 2013

Georgia Watson is currently in her second year at Southampton Solent University, studying Writing Fashion and Culture. She sent over a few images from a recent photo-shoot that she styled and photographed. The theme was the 1950s, which Georgia associates with “Dior, full skirts and femininity” and her aim was to “capture the essence of the era by using original clothes from the 50s”.

The images featured here really stood out to me, and when looking at them, two photographers came to mind right away. The first is William Eggleston, who has a very distinctive photographic style and worked during the 1950s and 60s in Tennessee and the Mississippi. The bold colours of Georgia’s styling and her choice of location clearly reference a similar time, bearing similarities to those elements in Eggleston’s work. 

A more contemporary photographer, Alex Prager, utilizes the stylistic elements of Eggleston’s work, along with a high level of styling to also evoke a sense of the era.

The light filtering through the windows and curtains creates a soft and reflective mood, enhanced by the model’s expression, prompting the viewer to conjure up a feeling of nostalgia in their own minds. These images successfully capture a sense of 1950s American culture, and Georgia’s decision to style with authentic clothes amplifies the overall aesthetic, while staying true to her original concept.

Photo: © Georgia Watson 2013

Joe Rose

Co-Editor